Editor

From Yorgos Lanthimos’ (The Lobster) new thriller The Killing of a Sacred Deer, to Australian doco Dogs of Democracy, to uplifting road film Djam, and forbidden love story Ouzeri Tsitsanis, The Delphi Bank 24^th Greek Film Festival (GFF) showcases the unique perspectives of modern Greek storytellers from all over the world.

17 films and 15 shorts including a plethora of award-winning features and documentaries will screen 10 to 22 October 2017 at Leichhardt’s Palace Norton Street Cinema, with tickets on sale today at www.greekfilmfestival.com.au.

“We are absolutely thrilled to present this incredible selection of films from some of the most exciting Greek filmmakers today. The program will delight film fanatics and the local Greek community alike, with a vibrant kaleidoscope of contemporary Greek cinema ranging from the inspiring, to the heart-wrenching, to the downright extraordinary,” said Festival Chair, Nia Karteris.

Opening and Closing Night

Praised as the Greco-Turkish Romeo and Juliet, romantic drama Roza of Smyrna will open the Festival. Featuring celebrated theatre actress Lida Protopsalti’s first cinematic starring role in her 66 year career, the film follows an art collector as he unravels a story of star-crossed lovers from almost a century ago.

The enduring power of love carries through to closing night with Ouzeri Tsitsanis. Starring Andreas Konstantinou (Little England, GFF 2014), the moving period drama follows the forbidden love between a Jewish girl and Christian boy in Nazi-occupied Thessaloniki, who find refuge in a tavern run by seminal Greek songwriter Vassilis Tsitsanis.

Features

• Roza of Smyrna (2016), praised as the Romeo and Juliet of Greco-Turkish relations, stars celebrated theatre actress Lida Protopsalti’s first cinematic starring role in her 66 year career, and follows an art collector unravelling a story of star-crossed lovers from almost a century ago.
• Ouzeri Tsitsanis (2015), tells the forbidden love story between a Jewish girl and Christian boy during the Nazi occupation of Thessaloniki, who find refuge in a tavern run by seminal Greek songwriter Vassilis Tsitsanis.
• The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell, and directed by Oscar-nominee Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, GFF 2016), is an unsettling psychological thriller following a surgeon who must make an unthinkable sacrifice, when his relationship with a teenage boy turns sinister.
• Djam (2017), a musical road film from Cannes veteran Tony Gatlif (Exils), is a big-hearted, life-affirming take on Southern Europe’s migrant situation as a free-spirited Greek woman and a lost French woman hit the road together to Mytilene.
• Mythopathy (2016), from Tassos Boulmetis (A Touch of Spice, GFF 2004) stars Giannis Niaros (One Breath, GFF 2016) in this wistful comedy-drama as a rare sufferer of “mythopathy” – allowing him to reshape reality whenever he suffers a broken heart.
• The Bachelor (2016), is the Hellenic answer to The Hangover, starring Greek comedian Yannis Zouganelis on a wild night out in Thessaloniki featuring old flames, petty rivalries and hilarious misfortunes.
• The Other Me (2016), winner of the Audience Award at Thessaloniki Film Festival, is a crime thriller following a professor who teams up with a math teacher to solve five unrelated murders, linked only by cryptic Pythagoras quotes.
• Amerika Square (2016), Greece’s candidate for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2018 Academy Awards, offers timely insight into the European immigration crisis, following a racist Greek nationalist who poisons immigrants with laced bread.
• Son of Sofia (2016), winner of Best International Narrative Feature at Tribeca, is a magic realist coming-of-age drama about a child escaping his uneasy home life. Transforming into the 1980s Olympic mascot, he befriends a Ukrainian teenage gigolo as the real world closes in.
• Afterlov (2016), is a cathartic comedy-drama following a broke musician who locks his ex-girlfriend in the basement of a luxury villa to dissect the reasons their relationship fell apart.
• Boy on the Bridge (2016), based on Eve Makis’ novel The Land of the Golden Apple, is a gripping drama about a young boy who discovers a dark family secret, in the midst of a murder investigation.
• Lines (2016), a modern day Greek tragedy, offers a commentary on life in modern-day Greece through seven stories about seven individuals crushed by the economic crisis.
• Pedro Noula (2016), is a thrilling neo-noir about a young man piecing together his identity after a traffic accident erases his memory, with no clues except a passport, broken cell phone, bank check and a photograph of a woman.
• The Story of the Green Line (2016), the latest film by political activist filmmaker Panicos Chrissanthou, is a provocative war drama following two Cypriots from warring sides who embark on dangerous secret journeys together behind enemy lines.

Documentaries

• Dogs of Democracy (2016), from Australian director Mary Zournazi and producer Tom Zubrycki, a dog-lover’s take on famous Turkish cat doco Kedi, follows the lives of stray dogs in Athens, and the people who take care of them.
• 90 Years PAOK: Nostalgia for the Future (2016), chronicles the 90-year history of the iconic Greek multi-sports club, featuring interviews with players, coaches and members including Greek football legend Giorgos Koudas.
• Trezoros: The Lost Jews of Kastoria (2016), is a heart-rending documentary following the rarely-told stories of Sephardic Jews during the Nazi occupation of Greece, featuring never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with survivors and their families.

Shorts
Accompanying the program will be 15 international and Australian shorts. Australian highlights include: Annex, adapted from a story by revered Greek-Australian author Chris Tsolkias, and Melbourne slam poet Luka Lesson’s video Please Resist Me.

International highlights include: Gymnast, starring Greek Olympic gymnast Vasiliki Millousi, and Cube, winner of Best Screenplay at the Athens International Film Festival, about a slacker who can solve Rubik’s Cubes at lightning speeds, but struggles to solve his family’s problems.

The Delphi Bank 24^th Greek Film Festival runs 10-22 October 2017 at Palace Norton Street, and also travels to Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Brisbane. 

 
WHAT: The Delphi Bank 24^th Greek Film Festival Sydney
WHEN: Tuesday 10 October – Sunday 22 October, 2017
WHERE: Palace Norton Street, 99 Norton Street, Leichhardt, NSW 2040
WEBSITE: www.greekfilmfestival.com.au  
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/GreekFilmFestival